Noach 5770/2009

Text for Parsha Noach

The God of All the Earth

For your husband is your Maker, Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name. The Holy One of Isra’el is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of all the earth. (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 54:5)

Sometimes, as we gaze across the landscape of the planet, we are at a loss to explain what we see. There is so much crime and wickedness. How could a loving God allow the pain and suffering, hatred and death that we see in the world? We wonder whether the God described in the Bible actually exists. Worse, what if he exists, and still allows the terrors that haunt us in this life?

I don’t claim to have all the answers for all these questions in this short article today. But I can offer one little piece of Hope—that, just as Hashem brought a small band of people through a global devestation called the Flood (in Hebrew, “Ha Mabul”), he will also accomplish his purposes for protection and life through us… and, sometimes, despite us.

We often forget to consider Moshe’s purpose in writing the Torah. He did not write originally for the sake of the entire planet. He did not write a cosmology to explain the nature of Hashem, or to justify the existence of each human being. Those things are taken as a given. Of course, God exists; it could be no other way. Obviously, human beings exist; one need only open his eyes to see that. And where there is existence, there is implied purpose. (Our children today are not taught this in school; if you agree with this, then you need to teach it to them yourself.)

These opening passages in the Torah were given for the sake of a group of former slaves wandering in the wilderness. Slaves who had forgotten who they were, and where they came from. Slaves who had one question in their minds. A set of questions, really. Questions that gnaw at the minds and hearts of most people in the world, at one time or another.

Survival!

• How did we get here?
• What gives purpose to me and my family?
• Will we continue after I am gone?

The Torah was not given in order to justify the existence of Hashem. It starts out assuming that. The Torah was not given to provide scientific explanation for the Flood. That, too, is assumed as fact by the author.

Rather, the purpose for these early accounts is to tie humanity to the Creator of All. More, these stories show how the Hebrew people—the offspring of “Ever”, from which we get the modern designation “Ivri”, or “Hebrew”—came to be wandering in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula.

It strikes me that this is the overarching theme of the Torah. In this parsha, we find the genealogical relationship between our first parents and the Hebrew people. In other places, we find this translated into a geographical relationship. The statement in parsha “Ha’azinu”, near the end of the previous Torah cycle,  has always stood out to me—

When `Elyon gave each nation its heritage,
When he divided the human race,

He assigned the boundaries of peoples according to Isra’el’s population;
But Adonai’s share was his own people, Ya`akov his allotted heritage.

He found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness.
He protected him and cared for him, guarded him like the pupil of his eye,

Like an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young,
Spreads out her wings, takes them and carries them as she flies.

Adonai alone led his people;
No alien god was with him.

(Devarim/Deuteronomy 32:8-12)

Verses 8 and 9 tell us that Hashem regards the Hebrew people as his unique inheritance. There is no other nation like the Hebrews, as far as he is concerned. Just as there is no other deity like our Father, as far as Israel is concerned.

The chronology of this passage is difficult to grasp, and deserves its own article. At this point, though, let me just remind us that, during the wilderness wanderings, Moshe is wrote the Torah. The Torah contained passages that refer to what was already an ancient past, and also to a future that remains distant, even for us. The selection of the Ivri began just after the Flood, and is demonstrated by the writer to lead inexorably to the call of Avram—better known today as Abraham.

Some would say that Israel today no longer enjoys the favored status described in parshiyot (pl. of parsha) Noach and Ha’azinu. However, I would differ with them. Hashem has promised to oversee Israel’s development, and provide blessing to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Despite human frailty and failing, this promise has never been rescinded.

Even Rabbi Sha’ul (known to many of us as “Paul the Apostle), spoke of this eternal selection of the Patriarchs and their offspring when he wrote,

But with respect to being chosen they are loved for the Patriarchs’ sake, for God’s free gifts and his calling are irrevocable.

(Romans 11:29)

Moshe spoke to the people group who would become what we think of as the nation of Israel. Rabbi Sha’ul spoke regarding that same nation. Despite what some would say about Israel somehow falling out of Hashem’s favor, there is no evidence in Scripture that testifies to this idea. Rather, what we see is continual affirmation of Israel and the focus of Hashem’s plan for restoration.

The Flood brought punishment, and the death of all but a select few survivors. Immediately after the Flood, a plan for restoration was put in place. That plan started with the selection of a bloodline, a bloodline that will result in the man we know as Avram (we will see the story of his call in the next parsha). The call of Avram resulted in a nation that has brought to the world a document known as the Torah. This Torah repeatedly testifies to the call and election of Israel, and their destiny of serving as the core of a planetary Kingdom.

Everything on planet earth relates, somehow, to Israel. Those who understand this principle rejoice in seeing the fulfillment of the Promises of Hashem. Those who do not find it confusing and upsetting.

Where did Israel come from?

From the patriarch, Avram, and his immediate progeny, Isaac and Jacob.

What gives purpose to each Israeli, and his family?

The calling and election of Hashem. Are all aware of this chosen status? No. And some who are aware of it wish it wasn’t so. I was reminded of this yesterday, as I watched the wonderful play, “Fiddler on the Roof”. At one point, Tevye (the main character) turns to God and says, “I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?” Similarly, a Jewish person who had lived through the Holocaust said to me a few years ago, “We were destroyed for being Jews. Why should I want to continue in that identity?”

But, despite ignorance, ingratitude… and pain, the Almighty still remains faithful to his Promise.

Will we continue after I am gone?

Absolutely, for Hashem cannot lie. Even a Gentile prophet knew this, and said so, in B’midbar/Numbers 23:19.

The Torah is written to answer the fundamental questions of life. Where do we come from? Why are we here? What is our destiny? All these questions are tied up in Hashem, our Creator and our Father, the eternal Friend of our Soul (Yedid Nefesh). When we recognize him as Author, Sustainer, and Destiny, then we will have a proper understanding of the role of Israel and the Torah as we survey the planetary scene.

Because he is faithful to his Promises to Israel, we can rest assured that he will also remain faithful to us, today. In the words of Jeremiah,

This is what Adonai says, who gives the sun as light for the day, who ordained the laws for the moon and stars to provide light for the night, who stirs up the sea until its waves roar—Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name:

“If these laws leave my presence,” says Adonai, “then the offspring of Isra’el will stop being a nation in my presence forever.”

This is what Adonai says: “If the sky above can be measured and the foundations of the earth be fathomed, then I will reject all the offspring of Isra’el for all that they have done,” says Adonai.

(Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:35(34)-37(36) )

Take heart today, in the Promises of Adonai, our Father, Protector, and our Friend. He loves you, whether you realize it or not. He watches over you, even when you spit in his face. He will faithfully take you to a destiny that he has known from the beginning, even when you think he has forgotten you.

And he will use Israel to accomplish all these aims, for he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Or, as Yeshayahu the Prophet says to Israel in the Haftarah,

Don’t be afraid, for you won’t be ashamed;
Don’t be discouraged, for you won’t be disgraced.

You will forget the shame of your youth,
No longer remember the dishonor of being widowed.

For your husband is your Maker, Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
The Holy One of Isra’el is your Redeemer.

He will be called the God of all the earth.

(Yeshayahu/Isaiah 54:4—5)

Who is the Author and Finisher of your faith? The Jewish Messiah who will return in order to reign over all the earth. Take heart, for Hashem will complete what he has started, both in your heart, and throughout the entire earth.